One year on since villagers saved their church and turned it into a community hub and the centre is booming.
Since its first pre-opening event last summer, and its official launch nine months ago, barely a day has gone by without the Heart of Headorn centre being in use.
A determined community effort saw the whole village club together - first to have the 150-year-old Methodist Church declared a Community Asset to stop it being turned into flats, and then to purchase the building from the church trustees to convert it into a usable space.
The centre was officially opened in September last year with a brass band, cava and canapes reception and a community fete, after a 32-month campaign to secure the building.
Some new community activities had already started up prior to the ribbon-cutting ceremony - the first being an evening of opera with the renowned tenor Yuri Sabatini.
Since then there have also been concerts by Organs for All, and the Mulberry Zingers, as well as lunchtime classical music concerts.
The latest visitors to perform at the centre were the Headcorn Primary School choir led by Annie Hutchison, who entertained visitors to a concert on Saturday.
Bella Mansfield, the centre manager and a key figure in the campaign to secure the old church for the community, was in reflective mood.
She said: “A year has passed since our first event.
“Since then, the hub has offered a dazzling range of activities and events.
“The Heart of Headcorn has held a party for over 90-year-olds, a Burns Night, hosted choir concerts, veterans’ events and various public awareness sessions on scams, doorstep crime, the menopause and positive parenting.
“Numerous clubs and societies now meet at the centre, including bird-watching, meditation, chess club, singing for health, the Mulberry Zingers choir, the Sober Club, laughing yoga, ESOL, Astronomy Club, the Merry Widows, the Headcorn Social Club and dog-training.”
“There are also two Chatty Cafes each week, three music groups and Penny Kemp’s Community Pantry, which feeds over 60 families a week.
“Exercise classes range from the fast-moving Empower and Motivate group to Keep Phytt and Tai Chi, which target those with limited mobility.”
She said: “Headcorn Parish Council had the foresight to back us and now business is booming.
“Thanks to Involve, in partnership with KCC, the centre has also been able to subsidise a variety of smaller, specialist groups for people who struggle with socialising or who suffer from long-term health conditions.”
The hub also has a local history exhibition space, which will soon have a children’s section upstairs, thanks to a grant from the Kent Community Foundation.
More education groups are planned for those who have missed out on schooling; support for ‘genius’ learners; and adult education classes in subjects such as philosophy, maths, financial education and classics, which train the mind and promote self-sufficiency.
And Headcorn Youth Club is set to return during the summer.
To find out more about the Heart of Headcorn, click here.
Mrs Mansfield said: “It’s all about encouraging each other. We believe that the ‘highest’ culture, quality learning and a healthy social life should be accessible to all.”
